AMPLIFY

Leaders, housing and hidden agendas - let's get into it.

🧲 How do we reverse polarisation in Australia? 🧲 Polarised, polar opposites, poles apart…whatever the phrasing, it all points to one thing: people are as far apart as ever. What did we do about it? We brought 150 people together in Sydney for an AMPLIFICATION event to talk about…Polarisation. Polarisation has reached a point where many people avoid engaging with others entirely. We anticipated sparks, but instead, we found a positive current. This compelling discussion explored whether Australia’s divisions could reach the same depths as those in the U.S. Moderated by Adam Spencer, the conversation featured an expert panel including Waleed Aly (Network 10), Claire Lehmann (Quillette) and Bill Kelty (Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), who unpacked the forces driving polarisation. Here’s what we uncovered: ▪️ ‘’Business as usual’ politics has failed many Australians: This is evident in the collapse of homeownership opportunities for those outside the housing market.   ▪️ Australian democracy has some safeguards: While these offer some protection against polarisation, we are not immune and are influenced by trends from the United States.   ▪️ Economic hardship fuels division: Prolonged economic challenges risk worsening divisions across broader sections of our community. What’s next? Our AMPLIFICATION events have demonstrated that healthy disagreement fosters understanding and sparks better ideas. In late February, 100 Australians from diverse backgrounds will gather for the country’s first National Housing AMPLIFICATION. Together, they’ll agree, disagree and collaborate on solutions to tackle the national housing crisis. Stay tuned… #polarisation #revitalisedemocracy #housingcrisis #community

🧒🧓 Can we bridge the intergenerational divide? 🧒🧓 The Intergenerational Divide is presenting significant challenges and barriers for our democracy. To tackle these issues head-on, we hosted our second AMPLIFICATION event in Box Hill, Melbourne, aiming to confront these challenges and break down barriers. 40 local AMPLIFY community members joined us to explore ways to bridge the gap. What we discovered? When people sit down, talk and listen, they realise they have much more in common than they initially thought. And it works! Here’s what we learned:: ▪️ Generational experiences vary greatly: Rapid social and technological change, combined with significant wealth gaps, means each generation views the ‘current moment’ differently’. However, generational differences aren’t new - and they’ve been overcome before. ▪️ Dialogue skills are lacking: Many participants felt unprepared to have meaningful conversations across generations. Unlike divisive media talking points, there’s no ‘playbook’ for these discussions in stark contrast to the divisive talking points supplied by the media. ▪️ Economic inequality is central: Inequality in opportunities was seen as the main driver for the divide. Conversations about housing decisions, career paths and climate change often triggered defensiveness and entrenched positions.. We’re excited to share the insights from this event and continue exploring how fostering understanding between generations can be a vital step forward to revitalising Australia’s democracy. #intergenerationaldivide #revitalisedemocracy #community

🤝 How much trust do we have in governments? 🤝 Welcome to 2025! And what a year it’s shaping up to be! To finish 2024 strong, we hosted a series of three AMPLIFICATION events across different communities in Australia. The focus? Tackling key challenges - starting with the growing lack of trust in government and its impact on our democracy. Our first event brought 21 AMPLIFY community members together in Toowoomba, Queensland, for an intensive 4-hour session.  And one issue stood out like an elephant in the room: trust in government and institutions is at an all-time low. The more communities we visit, the clearer this becomes. When trust is broken, governments hesitate to take risks or make bold moves that could create real change. BUT, here’s the good news: we still trust each other. In fact, the event confirmed an existing AMPLIFY survey that showed that the two groups that Australians trust the most are: ▪️ Other Australians (58%) ▪️ Experts (56%)  …far more than Political Parties and the Media (just 18% each). From our Toowoomba event, three key insights emerged: ▪️ Transparency matters: communities want more clarity on why decisions are made ▪️ Engagement is crucial: Australians are eager for meaningful involvement in shaping policies that impact them. ▪️ Frustration is high: people feel political parties need to represent constituents more faithfully. As we step into a new year, we’re excited to continue sharing insights and showing how AMPLIFICATION can rebuild trust by finding UNCOMMON GROUND. #community #trustingovernment #democracy

Oh we are SO back!! P.S. Expressions of interest to join us in February at our National Housing AMPLIFICATION close next week. Link in the comments 🏡 #housing #housingsolutions #community

AMPLIFICATION: Bringing Australians together to tackle big challenges and spark change #housing #deliberation #community

The AMPLIFY team got to hear from Zara Seidler ☕️, co-founder of the The Daily Aus, this morning on the experience of building a community of young people engaged in the news. Great lessons for us as we spend some time reflecting on building the AMPLIFY community and giving people a voice in tackling the biggest issues we face. Thanks Zara Seidler ☕️ for taking the time, being so open and honest with your reflection and inspiring us all!

The community found hearing directly from experts hugely valuable from our recent deliberation on the intergenerational divide. Check out the contribution from Danielle Wood, the Productivity Commissioner below:

The only conversation that matters on Housing. The one we’re having with you.    We turned to Australia’s brightest minds for real solutions. The result? Bold housing reforms designed to tackle affordability, expand choice, and secure housing for all. With guidance from experts like Saul Eslake, Steve Driscoll, and Jenny Rudolph, an inspiring team of Australian of the Year Awards recipients and respected community leaders - each recognised for their dedication to serving the community and fostering the public good - carefully prioritised a powerful shortlist of 13 solutions. These will take centre stage at our National Housing AMPLIFICATION in February 2025    Here’s a look at the 13: Making housing more affordable:  - Unlocking private investment for essential worker housing: A national digital solution (Housing All Australians)  - Implement a regime of tax reform, phasing out housing tax concessions (Everybody’s Home)  - Replace stamp duties with broad-based land value taxes (Grattan Institute)  - Boost Commonwealth Rent Assistance (Housing All Australians) Expanding housing choice:  - Unlock density Australia-wide with the Missing Middle Zone (YIMBY Melbourne)  - Incentivise gentle densification (CEDA - Committee for Economic Development of Australia)   - Implement Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning for affordable housing (Community Housing Industry Association)  - Scale up modular housing via changes to the National Construction Code (Blueprint Institute)   - Expand visa pathways to bolster our skilled construction workforce (Blueprint Institute) Increasing housing security:  - Strengthen protection for renters (CEDA - Committee for Economic Development of Australia)   - Encourage ‘build to rent’ for institutional investors (Committee for Economic Development Australia)  - Create a broad-based social housing program (Everybody’s Home)    The reform that covers all three problems:  - Implement a National Housing and Homelessness Plan embedded in law (Hal Pawson, UNSW City Futures Research Centre) We want to thank our community heroes and the National Australia Day Council for working so hard to give Australians a strong set of reforms. Thank you so much Blair McFarland, Christine R. OAM, Nick Hudson, Melissa R., Bernie Shakeshaft, Belinda Young, Selina Walker, Frank Oberklaid AM, Clair Harris, Amar Singh JP. What’s next?     100 Australians will participate in the first-ever national housing deliberation, deciding which reforms to support. Their priorities will be advocated for with decision makers.     More detail on the reforms will be shared in the new year. For now, head to our platform to engage on the national housing AMPLIFICATION or drop your thoughts below! 

What an incredible night on Monday at our first public event in Sydney! 🎉   A huge thank you to our host, Adam Spencer, and our stellar panel - Claire Lehmann, founder of Quillette; Bill Kelty, former President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), and Waleed Aly, award winning journalist from Network 10 —for diving into the big question: Is Australia at risk of becoming as polarised as the US?   The conversation was thought-provoking, the audience engagement inspiring, and the insights shared will undoubtedly fuel important discussions as we continue this journey.   Stay tuned! There’s so much more to come as we seek to find “uncommon ground” as we give the community a voice and role in shaping our nation's future. 💡    #Polarisation #Democracy #Housing #CostofLiving #AMPLIFY